Violent, Violent Sea was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment and the League of Composers Chamber Orchestra, and was premiered at Miller Theater in New York City in June 2011.

This work began with more of an emotional impression than a precise musical idea. My early notes for the piece look something like this:

LOUD BUT SLOW. LIGHT BUT DARK. VIBRAPHONE. HOW TO DO THIS?

To my relief I eventually did figure out "how to do this." The work evolved significantly from these early sketches but my idea of creating a loud, dense work with conflicting light and dark sides remained
intact. The result is a ten-minute piece with a deceptively sparkling exterior and dark, slow-moving chords at its core. These chords grind against each other, dissolve into glissandos and crescendo into surprising dissonances under the glistening patina of vibraphone and marimba. This work is dedicated to Sheila Mazzoli, who loves the sea more than anyone.

Missy Mazzoli, whose beautifully constructed Violent, Violent Sea received its premiere here, said she had associated the League with composers like Mr. Babbitt and Mr. Carter and less with the genre-bending composers of her generation.
An element of danger lurked beneath the shimmering surfaces of Ms. Mazzoli’s alluring work, whose swirls and eddies were glazed with eerie harmonics in the strings and glittering vibraphone and marimba patterns that evoked sunlight on sea.

Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times,6/22/2011

...the work is far more voluptuous than violent. It boasts fetching and sonorous writing for the entire ensemble, with soaring sustained tutti melodies and lushly spaced harmonies.